Relaunch Finder… from the Mac OS X Finder

Don’t want to dig out the Terminal or Activity Monitor to relaunch the Finder? No sweat.

Hold down Option and then right-click on the Finder icon in the Dock. You’ll now see an otherwise hidden “Relaunch” option, select it and Finder will quit and relaunch. It only takes a few seconds to reload.

Relaunching the Finder is sometimes necessary for troubleshooting reasons, but it’s also required for many Mac OS X interfacetweaks to take effect, including many defaults write commands.

On the other hand, if you’re already in the Terminal with a defaults write command, maybe it’s easier to just type the standard:

killall Finder

This also causes the Finder to relaunch, as does killing it in the Activity Monitor… but if you don’t have to leave the Finder, why bother?

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